MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

What is speciesism? PETA's human-supremacist theory trolled: 'They'll say animals should have ownership rights'

On January 26, PETA tweeted a photo pointing out the animal-related slurs while writing, 'Stand up for justice by rejecting supremacist language'

PETA recently posted tweets to ask Merriam Webster to remove words to combat "speciesism". The American animal rights organization talked about animal-related slurs and how humans use those terms which bring animals into a bad light. However, PETA’s tweets did not go too well with several social media users who trolled the nonprofit corporation over human-supremacist theory while claiming that if it is up to PETA, they would have awarded ownership rights to all the animals.

'Animals should have ownership rights'

On January 26, PETA tweeted a photo pointing out the animal-related slurs while writing, “Words can create a more inclusive world, or perpetuate oppression. Calling someone an animal as an insult reinforces the myth that humans are superior to other animals & justified in violating them. Stand up for justice by rejecting supremacist language.”

On January 28, PETA again tweeted about animal-slurs and asked online dictionaries to remove the derogatory definition of animals. PETA wrote, “Animal-related slurs used to debase humans reinforce inaccurate & harmful characterizations of animals. PETA is asking [Merriam Webster], [Dictionarycom], & others to help combat speciesism & reduce animal abuse by removing derogatory definitions of pigs, snakes, & dogs.”

However, PETA’s statement did not go too well among their social media followers. Many trolled the 40 years old organization over human-supremacist theory. Where one user wrote, “Damn what if I get blocked by @peta, AKA, the company that does the complete opposite of protecting animals and instead makes the problem worse by spreading lies about a lot of other things, mostly milk, and being overly sensitive over Mario and Pokémon?” Another user wrote, "PETA has a bunch of lions looking around nervously right now." A third user wrote, "Literally laughing out loud at PETA implying that human beings can only dream of organizing their labor toward a collective goal." Another wrote, "Just when I thought the insanity had peaked, PETA feels the need to outdo everyone else. Can't call someone an 'animal' because it's an affront to animals." A fifth user wrote, "Kidnapping pets and killing them is something someone who think's they're superior to animals does." Another user pointed out that "Pretty soon they'll be saying animals should have ownership rights too."

What is Speciesism?

Speciesism is the idea that being human is a good enough reason for human animals to have greater moral rights than non-human animals. Human animals include all those animals that humans keep as pets like cats, dogs, and horses. In contrast, chicken and lamb can be considered as non-human animals. As per PETA, most humans would not dream of treating their dogs or cats just the same way they treat pigs, even though the latter can experience the same pain, joy, or fear as all household animals do. This idea is often condemned by many as several say that giving human-animal beings greater rights than non-human animals is morally wrong. Many even compare speciesism as racism as it falls on similar grounds where white people have greater rights than non-white people in several parts of the world.

PETA works on the philosophy that animals are individuals and have the right to live free from human exploitation. However, those who support Speciesism believe that there is a clear difference between humans and other species, resulting in their moral status.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.